Sudan: Zenab for Women in Development
Zenab for Women in Development
Women in Sudan face war, poverty, the ravages of climate change and entrenched discrimination. Zenab for Women in Development enables Sudanese women to join forces in order to meet their families' basic needs and fight for their rights as women.
Culitvating Sustainable Agriculture
Through Women Farmers Unite, MADRE and Zenab co-founded Sudan's first-ever women’s farmers’ union. Though women farmers produce most of Sudan’s food crops, government farm aid programs traditionally exclude them. The purpose of the Women Farmers Union is to increase crop production while conserving natural resources and empowering women farmers to win access to tools, credit, and training opportunities usually reserved for men. The women are committed to farming organically and working together to promote understanding of good nutrition and environmental preservation in their communities.
Responding to the Crisis in Darfur
The ongoing humanitarian crisis in Darfur has caused hundreds of thousands of people to flee the area. Zenab works with refugees in Elgedarif State, distributing basic foods like millet and sorghum, providing clothes and shoes and building latrines in the refugee camps.
After international humanitarian aid organizations were forced out of Sudan in early 2009, Zenab and MADRE worked with the Women Farmers Union to grow a surplus crop to deliver to people living in refugee camps in Darfur.
Health Education
Zenab hosts monthly seminars in six areas of Sudan to promote safe sex and openly discuss the physical, social and psychological impact of HIV/AIDS on individuals and their communities. The seminars focus on the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, encouraging them to speak up about their experiences. Zenab also offers family planning and health education workshops to women and families.
Educating Young Women
In Elgedarif State, tuition fees for primary school are costly and half of all young children do not attend school. Zenab advocates on behalf of poor children to have school fees waived. Zenab also supports university education for young women from poor communities who would otherwise not be able to attend.
